Lettuce: Open-Pollinated Lettuce Mix (Lactuca sativa)

This is a diverse, open-pollinated lettuce mix grown from naturally cross-pollinated plants in our garden. Lettuce crosses readily when allowed to flower, and over time this creates unique, locally adapted varieties.

The seeds in this batch are black, which often indicates genetics leaning toward red or anthocyanin-rich types. The flowering plants were primarily a red Boston-type lettuce, but nearby varieties included a classic romaine and a butterhead Boston-type. As a result, this seed lot may produce a beautiful and unpredictable mix of leaf shapes, textures, and colours — from soft butterheads to upright romaine-style leaves, possibly with red or bronze tones.

This kind of naturally evolving lettuce is ideal for gardeners who enjoy diversity, resilience, and locally adapted plants. Saving seed from the plants you enjoy most will gradually shape your own unique strain over time.

I like to plant lettuce and dill alongside tomatoes. Both flower around the same time as tomato plants and help attract pollinators and beneficial insects into the garden. Lettuce in bloom becomes surprisingly tall and sturdy, and can help lightly support or “trellis” nearby tomato plants — especially indeterminate types. Flowering lettuce can also provide gentle shade at the base of tomatoes, helping reduce soil moisture loss and creating a more diverse, living garden structure.

Lettuce is easy to grow, quick to mature, and well suited to succession planting. Harvest young leaves for tender salads, or allow plants to mature for full heads. It performs best in cool weather and partial sun during hot periods.

Seed Saving Note
If you wish to maintain diversity, allow multiple plants to flower and set seed together. If you want to stabilize a preferred type, select and save from your favourite plants over several seasons.

Planting & Germination
Surface sow and press lightly into the soil — lettuce seeds need light to germinate. Start indoors or direct sow outdoors in early spring and again in late summer for fall harvests. Keep soil consistently moist during germination. Cold-tolerant and suitable for early sowing.

At least 50 seeds per packet